Mail-bag catcher and deliverer.



PATENTED MAY 12, 1908. H. ASKBLI, W. JACKSON & P. P IETILA. MAIL BAGGATGHER AND DELIVERBR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3, 1908.

2 SHEBTS-SHEET l.

n1: NORRIS PETERS cu, \VASHINGTOJy, 04 CV PATENTED MAY 12, 1908. W.JAOKSON & F. PIETILA. MAIL BAG GATCHER AND DELIVERER.

H. ASKELI APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3. 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

i Vi ha use;

i f Mf THE NORRIS PETERS c SHINGTOfI, n, c

HENRY ASKELI, WILLIAM JACKSON, AND FRANK PIETILA,

OF EVERETT, WASHINGTON.

MAIL-BAG CATCHER AND DELIVERER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 12, 1908.

Application filed. March 3, 1908. Serial No. 418,980.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY AsKELI, WVILLIAM JACKSON, and FRANK PIETILA,citi- Zens of the United States, residing at Everett, in the county ofSnohomish and State of Washington, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Mail-Bag Catchers and De liverers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Our invention relates to apparatus for transferring mail bags from amoving train to a stationary holder and vice versa; and it has for itsobject to provide an apparatus of said type which is, at once, simple,inexpensive and compact in construction, reliable in operation, and welladapted to withstand the shocks and strains to which such apparatus is:ordinarily subjected.

The nature of the invention, and its novelty, utility and practicaladvantages will be fully understood from the following description andclaims when the same are read in connection with the drawings,accompanying and forming part of this specification, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a part of a car, the stationaryholder of our improvements and the car portion of said improvements.Fig. 2 is an enlarged inverted plan view of the shuttle comprised in theapparatus. Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken through the stationaryholder and the shuttle in a plane at one side of the mail bag carrier.Fig. 4 is a longitudinal central section showing the shuttle in thestationary holder and also showing portions of mail bag car riers asproperly positioned relative to the holder and shuttle. Fig. 5 is aninverted plan of the holder, with parts in section.

Similar letters designate corresponding arts in all of the views of thedrawings, relerring to which:

A is the stationary holder of our improvements which may be located at astation or at any other desired point alongside of and in closeproximity to a railway. The said holder is carried by fixed supports B,and is channeled, as indicated by a, and provided with an overhangingportion 1) and a bottom ortion or platform 0. This latter reachesforwardly to a point below the vertical center of the channel a, and isprovided on its forward edge with longitudinally-disposed and oppositelydirected lingers d, and is also provided with bowed springs e disposedin the spaces f at the inner sides of the "lingers d.

' registered with that B is so much of a railway mail car as isnecessary to illustrate the application of the car portion of ourimprovements. The said car is provided in its side wall with atransverse opening and connected to the outer side of the said side walland arranged over said opening is a plate C having an opening g in thecar wall, and also having a crossbar 71 disposed across said opening fora purposepresently set forth.

In addition to the plate C, the car portion of our improvementscomprises a vertically adjustable frame D hinged to lugs "L on the car,a bar E pivoted at to the frame D and arranged to extend through theopening g in the plate C and having a plurality of notches is designedto engage the crossbar h of said plate 0 w'th a view of adjustablyfixing the frame D in its extended position, a shuttle F shaped to passthrough the channel a of the stationary holder A, bolts G connected tothe said shuttle and passed. loosely through apertures in a head Z onthe frame D and having heads m located at' the inner side of said headZ, and coiled springs H surrounding the said bolts G and interposedbetween the frame head and the shuttle F and having for their office toyieldingly retain the shuttle in the position illustrated, relative tothe frame,

and to cushion the said shuttle incidental to the passsage of the samethrough the channel of the stationary holder. The shuttle F is providedwith longitudinal grooves r, of T- form in cross-section, which extendin opposite directions from points at opposite sides of its transversecenter and are open at their outer ends; and it is also provided withbowed springs s positioned in the said grooves '2" for a purposehereinafter pointed out.

M is the mail-bag carrier forming part of our novel apparatus. The saidcarrier comprises a stem 15 having spaced. heads a, hinged jaws cconstructed with a view of securely gripping and holding mail bags, andlinks to interposed between and connecting the stem. and the jaws.

In the practical use of our improvements, when it is desired to delivera mail bag from the stationary holder A to a moving mail car, the bag issecured in the carrier M, and the said carrier is arranged with its stemt in the proper space f of the holder A and with the lower head aresting on the bottom 0 of the holder. With, the carrier thus arranged,relative to the stationary holder, it will be manifest that when theshuttle F on the mail car passes through the channel a, of thestationary holder, the forward groove 1' of the shuttle will engage theheaded ortion of the carrier stem and in that way ta (e the carrier andthe mail bag from the stationary holder. It will also be manifest thatwhen the headed portion of the carrier stem is received in the groove 1"of the shuttle, the spring .9 will serve to cushion the stem and also tohold the stem" in the shuttle until the carrier and bag are detachedfrom the shuttle by an attendant in the mail car.

When it is desired to transfer a mail bag from the shuttle F to thestationary holder A, the stem t of the carrier is arranged in the propergroove 7 of the shuttle-i. (2., the rear groove 7", with the lower headof the stem below the shuttle, and hence it will be apparent that whenthe shuttle passes through the channel of the stationary holder, thestem of the carrier will enter the opposed space f of the holder and beretained therein by the spring 6 While the shuttle passes on.

It will be further understood from the foregoing that by reason of theconstruction of our improvements, the shuttle is calculated to deliver amail bag to and take a mail bag from the stationary holder incidental toa single passage of the shuttle through the channel of the holder.

It will be gathered from the foregoing that in addition to the practicaladvantages ascribed to our novel apparatus, the apparatus is materiallyadvantageous because of its sini plicity, compactness and durability.

he construction herein illustrated and described constitutes the bestpractical embodiment of our invention of which we are aware, but wewould have it understood that in the future practice of the inventionsuch changes in the form, construction and relative arrangement of theparts may be made as fairly fall Within the scope of our invention asdefined in the claims appended.

Having described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure byLetters-Patent, is:

1. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a bagcarrier having a headed stem, a stationary holder having a longitudinalchannel and also having a platform in which is a longitudinal space 0 enat one end and positioned to receive t e stem of the carrier, and ashuttle designed to be carried by a car and to pass through thelongitudinal channel of the holder and having a longitudinal space openand a shuttle designed to be carried by a car and to pass through thelongitudinal channel of the holder and having a longitudinal space openat one end and arranged to receive the V stem and the head thereof andalso having a resilient stem retainer in the said space.

3. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a bagcarrier having a headed stem, a stationary holder having a longitudinalchannel and also having an overhanging in which latter are longitudinals aces eX- tending from points at opposite sic es of the transversecenter of the holder and open at their outer ends and also havingresilient stem retainers in said spaces, and a shuttle designed to becarried by a car and to pass through the longitudinal channel of theportion and a bottom portion.

holder and having longitudinal spaces or a grooves of T-form incross-section in its underside and extending in opposite direc* tionsfrom points at opposite sides of its transverse center and 0 on at theirouter ends and also having res' ient st r t i in the said grooves orspaces.

4. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a carhaving a transverse opening in its side wall, a plate connected to theside wall of the car and havj ing an opening registered with that in theside wall and also having a cross-bar extending across the said opening,a frame hinged to the car below the said plate and arranged to swingvertically, and a bar pivoted to the said frame and extending throughthe opening in the plate and the opening in the car wall and havingnotches arranged to receive the cross-bar of the plate.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

HENRY ASKELI. WILLIAM JACKSON. FRANK PIETILA.

Witnesses:

NOAH SHAKESPEARE, M. J. Fox.

